As expected, Governor Whitmer issued a new Executive Order (2020-54) that extended the moratorium on residential evictions in Michigan through Friday, May 15 at 11:59 p.m. The order continues to prohibit a residential eviction for nonpayment of rent, and appears to prohibit all other types of eviction unless the tenant poses a substantial risk to another person or an imminent and severe risk to property. Additionally, the new Executive Order confirms the opinion of the Attorney General that a 7 day demand for nonpayment of rent cannot include a demand for possession or other threat of eviction based on the nonpayment of rent. Therefore, you cannot use the usual 7 day notice (DC100a) without making major changes to the language of the notice.
Additionally, the Michigan Supreme Court instituted a new order late last week that requires all new nonpayment of rent cases filed through July 25, 2020 to include a certification that the property is not a "covered dwelling" as defined in the CARES Act. SCAO has approved a new form (DC504) for this purpose.
As you may recall, the CARES Act imposed a federal moratorium on evictions for nonpayment of rent through July 25 for certain properties. A "covered dwelling" is defined in the Act as a dwelling occupied by a tenant on a "covered property." "Covered properties" are properties having a federally backed mortgage loan, or a federally backed multifamily mortgage loan, or which participate in most federally assisted rental housing programs, including Section 8 housing. Once the state moratorium is lifted and we are in a position to begin filing new nonpayment of rent cases, I will be asking you to confirm that the tenant is not living in a "covered dwelling." If the tenant is living in a "covered dwelling," then we will have to wait until after July 25 to send out a demand for possession, and we will have to modify the form to give the tenant 30 days to pay or move.